In our inaugural episode, LaNeysha and Kate decide to hit the ground running and watch the worst of badaptations out there: Dragonball Evolution (2009). We talk about all the ways that this movie could have been better, how your thirst can balance your chi, terrible wigs, and just how many small unnecessary changes happen. Out there in the universe, Vegeta is crying and we’re here to wipe away the tears with our review.
We get into all the weirdness of this cursed live-action Dragon Ball (or Dragonball as the movie title writes). We break down the horny overtones from sex chi and strawberries to whatever the hell James Marsters is playing. If you’re lucky enough not to have heard of, it Dragonball Evolution is directed by James Wong, produced by Stephen Chow, and written by Ben Ramsey and stars Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Chow Yun-fat, Joon Park, and Eriko Tamura. In Dragonball Evolution, the young Goku reveals his past and sets out to fight the evil alien warlord Lord Piccolo who wishes to gain the powerful Dragon Balls and use them to take over Earth.
The film began development in 2002 and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first official live-action adaptation of the Dragon Ball manga and in shock to no one, Toei and Funimation have stated that they were not involved with the live-action film adaptation of Dragon Ball. The film received negative reviews by both critics and Dragon Ball fans, particularly for its script, cast, and unfaithfulness to the source material. The film performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $9.4 million in North America and a worldwide total of $58.2 million against a budget of $30 million. The film was meant to be the first of a series, though all subsequent films were canceled.
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